Finnick's Games
by flutist107
Summary: This the story of Finnick's Hunger Games.
1. Chapter 1

It was the day before the reaping, so my cousin and I decided to go fishing. Sarah was my cousin, she was three years older than me. Her parents had died in a boating accident that had killed about sixteen people, so she was living with us now.

I grabbed my trident and we made our way down to the docks. "Are you ready for tomorrow," she asked. "I don't think anyone looks forward to tomorrow," I say. "That's true," Sarah said.

I could see a fish starting to swim closer to the side of the dock. I waited till it got close enough and then I speared it with my trident. Sarah laughed, "How did you get so good with that thing?" I laughed, "I don't know, it just kind of came to me."

We continued to fish, once we were finished we took our fish down to my dad's boat. "Dad look what we got," I said showing him the fish. "Those are nice you two," he said taking the stringer out of my hand.

"I'll clean them here and bring them home for dinner tonight," he said. "Sounds good," I say. Sarah and I left the boat and decided to go down to the beach. A majority of our day is spent at the beach.

We get to the beach and sit right where the water meets the sand. I look out at the horizon and think I might never see it again. "Finnick," Sarah says, "are you okay? You have that look on your face." What look was she talking about?

"I'm fine, just worried about tomorrow," I say. Sarah gives me a hug and says, "You are fourteen, your name is only entered three times." I look up and give a half smile, "I guess you're right." "I know I am right," she says.

Sarah was one of the most caring people I had ever met. She was like an older sister to me, which made me worry about her odds of getting picked during the reaping. "I'm worried about you getting picked," I say. "Me? Finnick, I will be fine," she smiles. How is she so positive about all of this?

I look around the beach and notice some seaweed has made its way up to the shore. "Sarah, there's seaweed," I get up and run over to the seaweed, "we can take this to mom and make seaweed bread."

Both of us start gathering seaweed. As disgusting as the bread sounds, it is surprisingly delicious. Once we gather the seaweed we head home to take it to my mother.

I open the door, "mom we got seaweed for bread," I say. My mom is standing in the kitchen washing plates. "I will take this off your hands, Sarah can you get the other ingredients?" I go to the back of the house and see dad cooking the fish.

"Do you need any help," I ask. He gives a smile, "no Finnick I think I will be ok."

Thirty minutes later we have dinner. "Sarah, Finnick," my mom says, "tomorrow is the reaping and both of us want you to know that whatever happens we will always support you and love you." Sarah grabs my hand, "it's going to be alright, Finnick."

I start eating my fish and my seaweed bread. I make sure to eat every last bite of it, who knows how much I will eat after today?

When dinner is over my parents tell Sarah and I to go to sleep. They want us to get plenty of rest before the reaping. Sarah's room is right across from mine. She comes into my room and gives me a hug, "sweet dreams," she says kissing me on the forehead.

I get into bed and just stare at the ceiling for about ten minutes thinking about tomorrow. I decide it's pointless to think about, whatever happens just happens and I go to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

I woke up earlier than I usually did, it was the morning of the reaping. When I got up I decided that to eat some leftover seaweed bread. I wanted to go sit by the beach one more time before the ceremony.

I wrote a note so my family knew where I was. " _Gone to the beach, be back soon."_

I walked down to the beach, the sun was just starting to rise. I just sat and watched the sunrise, spending a few small moments with myself. I felt a tap on my shoulder and saw that it was Sarah. "Mom wants you to come get ready for the reaping."

We walked back to the house and I got changed. My mom made me wear a white shirt and black pants. I walked out into the living room to show my family what I looked like. "Oh, Finnick," my mom said, "you look amazing."

Sarah walked into the living room a few minutes later. She was wearing a light green dress and had put her hair into a bun. "You look great, Sarah," my mom said. Sarah and I looked at each other and smiled.

"I think it is time for us to head down to the reaping," my mom said. Dad couldn't go to the reaping this year, he had to work on the boat today. District 4 is a fairly large district and reaping day is always busy for his work.

When we got to the ceremony Sarah and I gave each other one final hug. "I will meet you after the reaping and we can go to the beach again," Sarah said. "See you then," I said.

We got in line to be signed in. "Hey Finnick," a kid from school says. "Hi," I simply said. "If I get chosen to fight in the Hunger Games I bet I will win," he said. I role my eyes, "I am sure you would."

More and more people continue to get signed in, then it is my turn. I stick out my finger and they prick it and put the blood on the paper. "Next," they said. I walk over to the side where all the other boys are and stand with the ones who are fourteen like me.

I look over to find Sarah, she is standing with some of her school friends. I wonder what they are talking about. One of my friends walks over and stands beside me. "Are you nervous," I ask. He shakes his head yes. Before I can say anything, the district's escort walks out onto the stage.

Rose Calloway was the escort. She had blue hair and an orange dress on. "Welcome everyone to the 65th Hunger Games reaping," she said. I look over at Sarah who is mouthing the words, "I love her hair." I laugh back.

"Today we will be selecting two brave, young tributes to compete in the Hunger Games," Rose says as she walks over to one of the giant bowls filled with names, "we will start with the girls." She sticks her hand down into the bowl without looking and draws out a slip of paper.

"Link Prescott," Rose says. I didn't know Link personally, I just knew her parents died in the same shipwreck as Sarah's parents. She was the same age Sarah was, seventeen, was one of the most cocky and arrogant people I knew, I think it was to get attention.

"Are there any volunteers," Rose asked. No one volunteered. District 4 is a career district, but it's very rare for someone to volunteer.

Rose walks over to the other bowl, "now we will draw for the male tribute," she says as she sticks her hand into the bowl. My heart starts beating faster than it normally does and I'm pretty sure my hands are shaking.

"Finnick Odair." Did I hear that correctly? Everyone is staring at me now, I try and wipe the scared look off my face and walk out between the two isles and am escorted up to the stage. I look at Sarah's face, she is acting surprisingly calm.

"Are there any volunteers," Rose asks. I look around to see if anyone will volunteer, but no one does. I notice a few girls are looking at Sarah now. I wonder why.

"Ladies and gentleman, your tributes for District 4," Rose says, "Link Prescott and Finnick Odair." Everyone starts cheering and Link and I shake hands.

We are taken into two different rooms so our family and friends can visit us for a few minutes before we leave.

My mom walks in first. I stand up and give her a hug. "Remember what I said, no matter what I will still love you." I smile as a tear runs down my face, "thank you." She hugs me again, "don't cry, don't cry."

The peacekeeper comes and takes my mom out of the room. Sarah comes in next. "I guess the odds weren't in my favor," I say with a laugh. "Finnick, you can do this," she says, "you know how to fish and use a trident."

"I doubt they will have a trident at the Cornucopia and I can't make one."

"Then use a spear, Finnick, use whatever weapon is close enough to a trident," she says. "I believe in you, mom believes in you, dad believes in you!"

"Believing in me isn't going to keep me alive!"

"Finnick…" my sister says in a quiet voice.

Just then the peacekeepers come in and escort her out. Another girl walks in the room, "oh Finnick this is just so awful! Can you see that I am deeply upset!" "Umm who are you," I ask.

"I am in your class Finnick, I came to give you a final hug goodbye," she says hugging me. I didn't hug her back. "My friend wouldn't come with me, but we both are in tears over you," she says. "Thank you?"

The peacekeeper takes her out of the room. Was that why all the girls were staring at Sarah? Did all of them have crushes on me? There was nothing special about me.

No one else came to visit and the peacekeepers came and escorted me to the train. This is where my life started to change.


	3. Chapter 3

Link and I board the train. The inside of the train is really fancy, blue wallpaper, nice furniture, and loads of food. I couldn't help but say wow.

"If you two would sit here, I am going to go find your mentor," Rose said. It was just Link and I now. She wasn't saying much so I decided to break the silence. "How are you," I ask trying to start basic conversation. She looks at me, "are you stupid? I just got reaped for the Hunger Games," she says.

I sit back in my chair and decide to not say anymore. "I know what you are trying to do," she says, "it's not happening." I was confused, "What am I trying to do exactly?"

"You are trying to form an alliance," she says, "I am not going to let some scrawny fourteen year old hold me back."

Just then Rose and our mentor walk in. Our mentor is an older woman. "Link, Finnick, this is your mentor," Rose says. Our mentor sits down in front of us, "My name is Mags, I am here to help you with the essentials of the games," she said.

"We will be talking about alliances first," Mags said. "Pay attention closely, Link," I say. She gives me a glare.

"Having alliances is always a good thing, talking to people during training can help boost your chances of making alliances."

"Who are our choices," Link asks. Mags turns on the tv and we start to watch the reapings from the other districts.

We watch the other career tributes reapings first. Carter and Jade, District 1. Jade volunteered and looked like she had trained a lot based on how she acted. Carter also volunteered and he had the same attitude as Jade.

District 2, Erik and Cynthia. Cynthia looked about my age, both volunteered.

"I like them," Link said, "I think I will make alliances with them." Mags looked at her and chuckled.

The next tributes were from District 3, Max and Kara. Both of them looked scared beyond belief.

Our district was next, when I saw myself I laughed at myself. I didn't look scared, but I didn't look happy either.

We continued to watch the rest of the reapings. None of the tributes appealed to me. "Did any of you see anyone you wanted to form an alliance with," Mags asks. "No," I say. "I am sure you will find someone," Mags says cheerfully. "How about you, Link?"

"I only want the tributes from 1 and 2," she says, "my aunt told me I am just as good as them or even better."

"What about you and Finnick being alliances," Mags suggests. She is wasting her time trying to suggest that. "Finnick won't last thirty seconds," Link says.

"Wow, thanks," I say.

"I am sure you will be fine," Mags says. Link turns and laughs.

Mags puts on some clips from previous games to show us fighting strategies. "That's Haymitch, he used the forcefield to help him win," Mags says.

I watch as the girl from District 1 throws an axe at him. He ducks and the acts goes into the forcefield then comes back and hits her in the head, killing her instantly.

The next clip is of a tribute from District 6, his name is Titus. He went crazy during his games and resorted to cannibalism.

"They actually let him eat people," I ask. "No, the gamemakers caused an avalanche that killed him. They didn't want a crazy person winning the games," Mags said.

Rose walked in and told us that there was food on the table for dinner. I sat down and started eating. "I wish I could have some of my mom's seaweed bread right now," I say.

"My aunt makes the best bread in the entire district," Link said.

I role my eyes and continue to eat my food. "We should arrive at The Capitol sometime tomorrow morning," Rose says, "be sure to get plenty of rest because tomorrow is a big day."

I finished eating and decide to go find my room. The rooms on this train are very nice, mine has a window on the left side of the bed. I go over and look out at the stars when my door to my room opens.

Its Mags, "I thought I would come and talk to you," she says, "I see how Link is treating you." I look over at her, "does she want to kill me," I ask. Mags shrugs her shoulders, "she hasn't mentioned it, but remember she is very arrogant."

I laugh a little. Mags acted like family to me and it meant something that she decided to come and talk to me about all of this, "it means a lot that you came to talk to me." Mags gave me a pat on the back, "would you like for me to come in every night before the games to talk with you?"

I nod my head yes and she smiles. "You get some rest now," she says, "good night." "Good night," I say back.

I keep thinking of ways to get alliances and sponsors during the games. Acting strong won't do me any good. I remember how people keep telling me how I look. Looks! That's it! If I act like the biggest flirt in The Capitol I may get somewhere. After all, the people of The Capitol do like people with good appearances.

This could work for a while as far as the tribute parade and interviews go, I just needed to figure out what else I could do. I decided to get some sleep and think about it, tonight I would actually have a good night sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

I woke up to the sound of Mags voice, "rise and shine," she said. I yawned and got up, "what time is it?" Mags answered, "9:30, get dressed and I will be in here eating breakfast." I got dressed and went to eat breakfast.

Link, Mags, and Rose had already ate. I sat down and started to eat, there was more food than yesterday. "Today you will be arriving at The Capitol," Rose said, "I will take you both to meet with your Prep Team and then they will take you to your stylist."

"I think District 4 _always_ has the best outfits," Link said, "I bet mine will be the best."

"I am glad you think dressing in a fishing net is fun," I reply to her. Mags interrupts the conversation before it can get out of hand. "Today is all about first impressions," she says, "try and be outgoing and cheerful, just be yourself."

 _Try and flirt with the audience._

I continue to eat my breakfast when Link yells, "there it is!" I turn and look out the window and see The Capitol. There were lots of tall buildings and you could see the mountains in the distance.

I stand up by the window and Link joins me and we wave to the crowd of people by the train station. Mags, Rose, Link, and I are escorted off the train. "Link and Finnick, come with me," Rose says. We follow behind her and we are taken to our Prep Team.

My Prep Team consists of one guy and one girl. The guy has orange hair and the girl has pink hair and bright blue eyeshadow.

"My word, look at you," the girl says, "did someone prep you before you came?"

"Nope," I try and say flirtingly, "this is my natural look."

The two stare at each other shocked. "Well, we will just clean you off and fix your hair."

They rinse me off and start putting this odd gel in my hair. "There the worst part is over, let's take you to your stylist," the guy says.

They take me to a different room and wearing a bathrobe. A girl walks in the room, she looks normal! She has blonde hair with pink tips. "Hello, my name is Cassidy and I will be your stylist."

"What is the costume this year?"

"I want it to be a surprise," she says. Great, another fishing net.

When she finishes with me I look in the mirror at the costume. I have no shirt and am wearing a blue colored skirt, why a skirt?

Cassidy puts a fishing net over my left shoulder and wraps seaweed around my head to look like a crowd.

"Let's go up to your chariot," Cassidy says. We walk up to the chariots and I get a look at everyone's costumes.

District 7 looks like trees, District 12 is wearing all black with splashes of coal dust in their face, District 1 is dressed with multi-colored furs and has jewels all over their outfits.

Link and her stylist walk up to the chariot. Link is wearing the same thing I am, except more covered. Mags walks over to our chariot. "Remember to smile and wave, first impressions are important."

I get into my chariot and Link stands beside me. "Remember to smile and wave," I tell her. "I am not smiling and waving," she says, "that is not how to get sponsors, so I suggest you do the same."

The chariots start to move and I ignore everything Link said. I start waving to the audience and everyone cheers. Link kicks me in the foot and mumbles, "stop waving." I continue to wave and smile.

All the chariots come to a halt in front of President Snow. "Tributes we welcome and salute you," I stopped listening after that. I looked over at the audience and gave a small wave to a section of girls with really bad haircuts.

After that I hear Link yell something at me. "Hey Finnick, how do you think we did out there tonight," she asks. "I thinkI did great." Just then she slaps me in the face, I did not see that coming. "Wrong! We did terrible and it was all your damn fault."

Mags came over there, "Link it was no one's fault, you both did amazing." Link went over to talk to the District 2 tributes. "Remember arrogant, Finnick," Mags said.

Link, Mags, and I headed up to our room. I immediately went and changed out of that costume. When I had changed I went back into the living room to hear if Mags had any new updates.

I sat down on the couch and Link sat down on the couch too. "Tomorrow you start training," Mags said, "try and do some survival skills things too and not just weapons."

"Your stylist will be here in the morning to get you ready," Rose said.

I wasn't looking forward to training, there won't be any tridents and I know that for a fact. Link on the other hand will be doing everything she can to make sure she is in an alliance with the careers.

"Did anyone mention sponsoring us or did Finnick ruin our chances," Link asked.

"No one talked to me about you two, I'm sorry," Mags said.

Link got up and walked to her room and slammed the door shut. I honestly think she wants to kill me.

"I am not going to let her get to me, she just wants attention and to be in the spotlight because in reality she knows she can't," I say to Mags.

"Sadly, that is probably true," Mags says, "I remember someone in my games had that same attitude as she does." "What happened to them," I ask.

"It was the District 5 male, he always boasted during training and told his district partner straight to her face that he would kill her," she said, "in the end he ended up getting killed by someone else, Finnick don't become arrogant like her, you could end up with your picture in the sky."

"I won't, I promise."

"Good," she said giving me a hug, "get some sleep you have a big day tomorrow."

I went to my room and went to bed. All night I thought about what Mags had said and my flirt strategy. I thought about how well it worked today. I knew tomorrow that I would have to prove myself with weapons and make allies.

The problem was finding them.


	5. Chapter 5

I woke up and went to the living room to eat breakfast. Mags was the only other person awake. "Good morning Finnick." "Good morning Mags."

"Make sure to eat a good breakfast, you have training all afternoon."

Link walked in and sat down at the head of the table. "Good morning Link," Mags said. "What's the advice I don't need today," she asked.

"If you think it is useless then why would you ask," I say. Link looked at me with a glare, "you know what Finnick I have had enough of your smart ass comments."

"The only one being a smart ass around here is you Link," I say.

Mags stoop up, "that is enough you two. We are NOT going to fight right now." I am glad she said that tired of fighting with her myself.

"You're right, we shouldn't fight here. I will fight him in the arena," Link said.

"I'm not scared of you," I say.

"You will be during the bloodbath, you'll wish you would have never said the things you have said to me."

Mags shook her head at me, she didn't want me to reply and I didn't. A few minutes later, Rose showed up with our stylists.

They gave us a black jacket with our number on the back and black pants.

Mags escorted us down to the training center. "Good luck to both of you," she said. A peacekeeper opened the door and we walked in.

A lady had all of us gather around her to discuss what would be taking place. "You all will train today, there are trainers in here if you want to work with someone. You will also receive a lunch break."

I looked around at the other tributes to see if I wanted to be allies with any of them. Still, none of them appealed to me. I guess I would be by myself.

The first place I headed towards was the rope knotting station. I looked over and saw Link with the careers. Link was practicing archery and to be honest she wasn't missing.

I continued to keep tying knots when I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. I turned around and saw the District 10 tributes behind me. "Hey, I am Naomi and that is Luke," Naomi said.

"Oh, umm, hi I am Finn-," I start to say as I am interrupted by Luke. "We know, we want to be allies." Was this happening? I wonder what made them want to be allies with me. "Sure," I say. I decided to be alliances with them. If something happened that they were holding me back I would just leave them.

"You're pretty good at tying knots," Naomi said. "Thanks, I tie the fishing nets back at home for my dad." Luke and Naomi looked at each other and nodded. "So you are a career," is this the reason they wanted to be allies? "I guess, I come from a career district but I want planning on being allies with them."

They look at each other again, something tells me they are up to something. "Are any of you good with weapons?" Luke nods his head yes, "I can use an axe and a knife very well," he said, "my dad is a butcher."

"I am good with survival skills," Naomi says. "That is a good quality to have," I say.

"What about you Finnick Odair," Luke asks, "are you good with weapons?"

"Back at home I used a trident all the time for fishing, I guess a spear is the closest thing in the arena though." I walk over to where all the spears are and decide to show off a little to them.

I pick up one of the spears and throw it straight at the target and it hits straight in the heart. The next one hits directly in the throat, and the next in the head.

I notice Link is looking at me like I am a joke. I walk with Luke and Naomi over to the axe station. He throws about four at different targets, each one hitting the center. "You are pretty good," I say. "Thanks," he laughs.

A bell rings for our lunch break. Our lunch consists of soup. I take my bowl and go sit at a table with Luke and Naomi. "So what is the plan for the Cornucopia," Luke asks. "Run for the middle," Naomi says. That was good enough for me.

When our lunch break was over we went back for another hour of training. I worked on the survival skills like Mags told me to. I worked on igniting fires, mostly. Luke and Naomi practiced at the axe station and the bow and arrow station.

I noticed a girl was sitting in the corner by the paints and she wasn't doing anything. I walked over to her and sat down beside her. "Aren't you going to train," I ask.

"No, I don't stand a chance against any of these people," she said. It was the girl from District 6.

"Don't give up before it's even started. I can help you, would you like to join my alliance with the District 10 tributes?"

"You! Finnick Odair, want me to join your alliance," she got a smile on her face, "yes."

I laughed, I guess the flirting was helping me get alliances too, "what's your name?"

"Sasha," she said.

We walked over to Luke and Naomi, "this is Sasha, she was wondering if she could join our alliance." I didn't want to say she just wanted to be allies with me because then they wouldn't let her join.

Luke and Naomi thought it over and agreed to let her in our alliance.

When training was over we went back up to our room. Mags, Rose, and our stylists were sitting on the couch waiting for us.

"How did it go," Mags asked, "did you make any allies?"

"I am allied with all of the careers," Link said, "they think I am good with a bow and arrow."

"That is good, what about you Finnick," Mags asked me.

"I formed an alliance with the District 10 tributes and the District 6 girl."

"That sounds like a great bunch," Mags said.

Later that night I ask Mags a question about my alliance. "What do I do if things in the group start taking a turn for the worst?"

"Leave, if the group starts to turn on someone, even if it isn't you, leave," she said, "don't try and kill them, more than likely they will end up killing each other."

This was the most important advice from Mags I had gotten. I had a feeling this advice was going to be needed sooner or later.


	6. Chapter 6

The two days of training went by and it was finally time our scoring. I put on the same outfit I had been wearing to training on. I wasn't feeling like eating this morning, so I just sat on the couch and waited for Link and Mags to finish eating so we could go to the training center for scoring.

"Not hungry this morning," Mags asks.

"I think he is too scared, after all he ruined all his chances with sponsors after he made allies with the weaklings," Link said. I choose to ignore her and not let her get the best of me.

"You both will do fine," Mags says, "let's go down to the training center."

We get into the elevator, it stops on the third floor and the District 3 tributes get in. They look scared and act as if they haven't eaten all week.

Mags starts having a conversation with their mentors, Wiress and Beetee. The girl tribute waves at me and gives a small smile then looks down at the ground. She acts shy. I wasn't going to offer for her to join the alliance, but I would try and keep an eye out for her. I remembered her name was Kara.

When we got off the elevator we went straight to the training center. When we got there we were instructed to sit on an assigned bench with our district partner. Luke and Naomi waved at me and I waved back.

District 1 went first, then 2, then 3, and then it was my turn. "Finnick Odair," the voice said. I stood up and walked into the training center. I looked up and saw the game makers. "You have ten minutes to present your chosen skill," the head game maker said.

I looked around and saw no tridents, I guess I was using a spear. I grabbed three spears for each target. The first one I was aiming for the heart. I took a deep breath in and threw it right to the center.

I walked over and picked up my next spear, this time aiming for the head. I did the same setup and hit the target right in the head. I looked up and saw the game makers talking amongst each other. I hope they were good words.

For my final target, I aimed for the throat. I threw it directly into the center of the throat. The game makers looked impressed from my point of view.

I had a couple seconds left so I decided to show them some of my knot tying abilities. The bell went off which meant my time was up. "Thank you for your time," I said with a smile.

After I finished with my scoring, I went to meet Mags. "How did you do?" "I think they looked impressed," I said. She smiled and gave me a thumbs up. Link came over to us a few minutes later. "How did it go for you," Mags asked. "I think I scored a twelve," she said boastfully.

We went back up to our room and sat on the couch. Rose, Cassidy, Link's stylist were already up there. We all sat on the couch by the TV waiting for Caesar to announce our scores. "It's starting," Link said.

"From District 1 Carter with a score of 9, Jade a score of 9." That is good, most careers get scores of 10. "District 2 Erik with a score of 9, Cynthia a score of 8." "District 3 Max with a score of 4 and Kara score of 3." Now I am glad I didn't form alliances with them.

District 4 was next, this was the moment that would decide how we would do with sponsors. "From District 4 Finnick Odair with a score of 10 and Link Prescott with a score of 9." I just received a 10!

"Congratulations you two," Mags and Rose say. Sasha got the lowest score, she got a two. Luke and Naomi got good scores. Luke got the same score I did and Naomi got an eight.

Luke and I received the highest scores, I needed to keep a close eye on him during the games. "Tomorrow is the interviews, we have great plans for your outfits," Cassidy says.

I hope the outfits are better than the ones we got during the tribute parade. The interviews are normally nicer, if you have a good stylist.

The rest of the day went by and I decided I needed some time to myself. I went to my room and sat by the window and looked out at the streets. People were celebrating the scores of the tribute they were betting on. I wonder how many people were betting on me.

I can't grasp the fact that in a few days we will be killing each other. I remember all the things Mags told me about staying alive. I am starting to have a little faith in myself.

Mags comes into my room for our nightly chat. "Are you happy about your score?"

"Yes, there is just one problem with it though," I say.

"What might that be, dear?"

"One of my allies got the same score I did."

Mags sighs, "Oh, that's tough," she said, "like I said before, if you ever feel like you need to leave the group do it. If you wait too long you may miss your chance to go."  
"How do you go about leaving your group without them noticing," I ask.

"If it ever comes down to that point, volunteer to take first watch. Wait a little while till everyone is asleep, then you leave."

"Thanks, I feel like it may come to that point."

"Don't go into the games thinking you are going to split up automatically, they will try and kill you then, just wait for something to happen."

Mags was truly good at giving advice. She felt like part of my family and I didn't want to disappoint her during the games.

"Get some rest, the interviews are tomorrow and then you are off to the arena."  
Those words kept repeating in my head all night long.


	7. Chapter 7

All day long I had been practicing questions with Mags. "Finnick, you don't need me to ask you anymore questions," Mags said. "If I have bad answers people won't sponsor me," I knew the looks would get me sponsors, I just needed an excuse for Mags.

"Finnick you are fine," Mags got up and went to her room. Rose was in our living quarters during the afternoon, so I decided to ask her to ask me questions. "Hey Rose, would you help me practice answering questions?"

"Haven't you been working on that all afternoon," she asks.

"Yes, but you can never have enough help," I say smiling.

Rose looked at me and sighed, "sense you are a little darling to everyone in The Capitol I will help you."

Did she just say I was a darling to everyone in The Capitol? Can she even say that? I now had an overwhelming sense of joy, just by hearing that statement.

"Never mind Rose," I say, "I don't need any more help." I get up and walk to my room with a smile on my face.

Link walks past me, "what are you so happy about?"

"Oh, nothing."

I jump on my bed and then I accidentally fall on the floor. I can't wipe the smile off of my face. Not because I just fell on the floor, but because my strategy worked!

The day continued and it was time to be taken to our stylists to get ready for our interviews. Rose took both of us to our Prep Team first.

My Prep Team was happy to see me. "Well look, it's our little darling," said the girl. The normal routine of getting washed off and my hair getting fixed went on and on. When I met with Cassidy she was super excited to show me my outfit.

My outfit is nothing special. It's just a tux that has blue trim around the sleeves, I guess to represent the water. Cassidy takes me to the stage where we will be having our interviews and I get in line, district order, along with the other tributes.  
Link has a green dress with blue trim around the bottom. I hear music start to play which means the interviews have begun to start.

The careers go first and their interviews are basically the same, stating that they want to kill every single person. Kara goes next, Caesar asks her numerous times for her to speak up because no one in the audience can hear her. Her tribute partner goes next and it's the same deal. I bet Wiress and Beetee are having a hard time trying to get people to sponsor them.

Link goes next. "Please welcome from District 4, Link Prescott!" the audience cheers for her. Her interview is going really well. Her time is up and now it is my turn.

"Ladies and gentleman, he won your hearts at the tribute parade, please welcome Finnick Odair," Caesar says.

I walk out on to the stage waving at the crowd and put a huge smile on my face. I sit down in the chair next to Caesar's. "Finnick, Finnick, Finnick can I just say wow. I think you blew everyone away during the tribute parade with your looks," Caesar says, "everyone has been talking about you."

I give a small laugh, "well what can I say I was blessed," the audience starts to laugh. "Now Finnick, you got one of the highest scores this year, what are your thoughts on that," Caesar asked.

"I am happy with my score, I feel like if I had a trident I could have scored a twelve."

"A trident, did you use it to fish a lot?"

"Yes, my cousin and I caught fish for my dad all the time."

"I see, but Finnick, is there a special someone back at home?"

This question was going to help my strategy so much more. "No there isn't, but I am sure there is someone special here in The Capitol," I say as I smile at the audience.

A bunch of girls start screaming my name. I try to hold back my laughter from how insane the way they're acting is.

The bell goes off which means my time is up. "Ladies and gentleman, Finnick Odair."

I stand up and wink at the group of girls that couldn't stop screaming and wave to the audience and exit the stage.

I meet back up with Mags and we watch the rest of the interviews. Sasha goes on stage for her interview, she talks about her survival skills. "Have you made any alliances," Caesar asks her. "I actually was asked to be in an alliance."

Caesar looks at her and asks, "with whom?" Then she answers, "Finnick Odair asked me to join his alliance."

There was a giant gasp from the audience. I wasn't surprised after hearing how much these people loved me.

"Finnick is a real sweetheart isn't he," Caesar asks. "Yes, he is," she answers. Mags put her hand on my shoulder. I thought what Sasha said was sweet.

Luke and Naomi had their interviews. Luke talked about how he was good with an axe and Naomi talked about her survival skills too.

Mags and I went up to the room. Rose was up there with Link. "Great job to you both," Rose said. "Thank you," Link said. That was the first time I had heard her say something without a nasty reply after it.

"I just wanted to say that I am so glad I go the opportunity to be your escort," Rose says, "I am so sorry this happened to you two." I guess she thinks that we are both going to die.

"I don't get to go with you to the arena tomorrow, your stylist does," Mags says, "I just want you to know that you are both Victors in my heart, no matter what happens."

"Thank you Mags," I say. Mags was a big role model to me and I was going to miss her so much. That night I sat by window watching The Capitol citizens celebrating the eve of the games. I heard Mags open the door and come into my room.

"Was it like this before your games," I ask her.

"Yes, they will be celebrating all night. Sorry for the noise."

"It's fine, I'm just thinking about tomorrow."

"Finnick, you can do this. I believe in you, you just need to believe in yourself, now get some rest."

"Good night Mags," I say as she leaves my room.


	8. Chapter 8

I give Mags a final hug good bye and walk with Cassidy to the hovercraft. Each tribute is wearing a black shirt and green pants with pockets and a pair of black boots.

All of the tributes sit in the hovercraft. I am sitting by the girl from District 5 and Naomi. A lady walks around to each tribute and asks for their arm. "What is that," I ask when she gets to me. "It is your tracker," she says as she shoves a giant needle into my left arm.

Once everyone has their trackers in their arm the hovercraft takes off. This was really happening, this was really happening, this was really happening. Millions of thoughts are running in my head.

 _I could possibly die today, what if there is no water? What if I step of the block too early? What if? What if? What if?_

I try and act like I am doing fine, but I think Sasha could tell because she mouths to me, _"I am nervous too."_

I feel the hovercraft starting to descend and my heart starts beating faster and faster. We are taken beneath the arena and we meet our stylist in a small room.

Cassidy is holding a blue jacket. "Here you can put this on," she says. I put on the jacket, all the thoughts still running through my head.

Cassidy comes over and gives me a hug, "you'll be alright, Finnick."

A voice says there is ten seconds before launch. I get into the tube and a glass slide seals around. I look and notice that my hands are shaking, but this is about to be broadcasted on live television so I try and keep my cool.

The tube starts to rise up and I try and remember the plan I had made with my group. When the tube stops rising I see a forest all around me. I look for a trident at the Cornucopia, but there is none.

Sasha is three people to my right and Luke is about two to my left. I couldn't find Naomi.

"Let the 65th Hunger Games begin," the voice starts counting down from ten. Then the gong goes off and the sixty seconds were up.

I run for the middle, there is an orange backpack that no one is going for, I go for it first. I keep running for the middle and am able to grab a knife before Erik tries to kill me.

I can see Sasha and Naomi running for the trees and I run after them. I finally catch up to them. "Where is Luke," I ask. "He must be in the bloodbath," Naomi said. "We don't have time to wait on him," Sasha says.

We keep running and cannons keep firing. We make it about halfway through the forest before our legs give out.

"Did you guys manage to get anything," Sasha asks. "I got this knife and this backpack," I say. "I only got this backpack," Naomi says. I notice Sasha's head is bleeding. "Sasha did someone throw a knife at you?"

"Yes, the girl from your district did." Apparently Link was good at throwing knives. "Check and see if any of you has medicine in your backpack," Naomi says.

The only things in my backpack were an empty water bottle and some wire. "I don't have any," I say. "It's fine, we need to find fresh water," Sasha says.

We start walking through the forest, another cannon goes off. We had been walking for twenty minutes before we finally found water. "Water," Sasha yells. I run over to the lake and fill my water bottle up. "Let's go try and find Luke," Naomi says.

We walk around the arena and there isn't a sign of him. "Naomi, are you sure he isn't dead," I ask. "He isn't dead, I know that for a fact." "We should start to find a place to settle down for the night," I say.

We continue to walk through the forest, then The Capitol anthem starts to play. The words "The Fallen," appear in the sky. Max, District 5 girl, District 5 male, District 6 male, District 7 female, District 8 male, District 9 female, District 9 male, and District 12 male.

"Nine tributes," I say, "I will take the first watch." Naomi looked at Sasha, "that will be fine," Naomi says. Naomi and Sasha go to sleep, I start to hear a beeping noise. When I look up I see a small parachute falling from the sky.

The parachute lands in the tree, I climb the tree to go and get it. When I look to see which district it belongs to. The number 4 is labeled on it. "I wonder what this is," I say quietly. I open up the parachute and see that it is a box of matches.

I look down at Naomi and Sasha, they are still asleep. I take the matches and put them inside my backpack. I quietly get out of the tree. I haven't been in the alliance for a day and I am starting to regret it, but I'm not leaving yet.

I tap Sasha on the shoulder to take watch so I can get some sleep. I have only been asleep for about ten minutes when I hear Sasha telling us to wake up.

"What's wrong," Naomi asks.

"I think someone is here," Sasha says starting to cry.

I look around and don't see anyone, until I here twigs crunching underneath someone's feet.

"Someone is getting closer," Sasha says.

"Everyone, quietly and calmly climb up the tree," I say.

I start to climb the tree. Naomi and I make it up to the third branch before we hear a scream.

Sasha couldn't climb the tree, "Will you be quiet, someone is going to hear you," Naomi said.

Someone did hear her. The footsteps kept getting closer and closer. Sasha started to run and we had no choice to go after her. We kept chasing her until she ran into the District 8 female.

The girl had a knife with her and threw it at Sasha, the cannon fired instantly.

I only had a knife with me and I didn't want to lose it, but if it meant saving my life then I guess I would use it. I threw it at her and it hit her in the stomach, she died slowly.

I grabbed my knife and cleaned the blood of with what little water I had. Then we kept on moving.


	9. Chapter 9

When the sun began to rise we continued to search for Luke. "Naomi we need to find food," I say. "Not until we find Luke."

"I think our health is a little bit more important." She turns to me, "fine we can look for food." We search for any type of food. There are some berries on a bush, I don't want to eat them because I am afraid they might be nightlock.

"Have you found anything?"

"No," I say. I wondered how long it was going to take before we got food. "Do you want to check the Cornucopia," I ask. She nods her head yes and we make our way to the Cornucopia.

We stayed hidden in the bushes until we knew that the careers were gone. "Are they there," Naomi asked. "No, let's go."

We run out to the Cornucopia. When we reach the middle we see Luke, inside. "Luke," Naomi yelled. She ran over and started whispering stuff to him. I kept checking for food, but didn't find anything. I almost gave up until I heard another beep.

There was another parachute coming from the sky. I ran towards it and saw my district number on it. "Is that a sponsor gift," Luke asked. "Yeah, it's my second one."

I opened it up and saw a bunch of seaweed bread. There was a note from Mags inside. _"A little taste of home – M"_

"Would you like some seaweed bread," I offered. "No, that's your gift you take it," Naomi says. I put the extra pieces of bread in my backpack, I may need them later.

We tell Luke about Sasha and try and put as much distance from the Cornucopia as possible. "Have you seen the careers," I ask Luke.

"I think I heard them talking about heading towards the lake to set up camp there."

I think I knew why they chose to make camp there. When other tributes came to the lake to get water there would be an easy kill access. That means we had to use as little water as possible until all the careers were dead.

As much as I wanted to go kill the careers I couldn't do it. One small knife wouldn't do any good with a group of people trying to attack you. I really wish I had a trident.

"Hey Mr. Capitol Darling, who is the most recent tributes that have died," Luke asked.

I hope he isn't planning on calling me that the rest of the games. "My name is Finnick and last I knew it was just the District 8 girl and Sasha."

"Who killed the girl from eight," Luke asked.

"I did," I said, "I killed right after she killed Sasha."

Luke mumbled something under his breath and sighed, "let's keep going."

"Should we try and find another source of water," I ask, "just because the careers blocking our current one."

The two nod their heads yes and we start off to search for a new water supply. I open my water bottle to see how much I had left. The bottle wasn't even halfway full and I was starting to get thirsty.

I kept following Luke and Naomi. "I found another lake," Naomi says. I start running towards the lake and fill up my water bottle.

"I got some wire in my backpack, I could use it to make a fishing rod and catch you both some fish."

"Go ahead Odair," Luke says. Luke and Naomi walk over and sit their supplies down by a tree and start looking to see what each other had in their bags.

"Thanks for your help," I mumble under my breath. I find a stick and start cutting spots into it to attach the wire. I didn't have any metal to make a hook so I tried to make one out of wood. I took a small piece of the bread and put it on hook and cast my pole into the lake.

It took a couple minutes before a fish got caught on my hook. I went out into the lake to get the fish. The fish wasn't small, but wasn't large either.

I looked over at Naomi and Luke and saw that they were asleep. "Hey, I caught your dinner for you, you're welcome."

I gather some wood and start a small fire to cook the fish. "The fish is ready," I say. Luke and Naomi walk down to the fire and start eating the fish. I put out the fire while they eat so that way no one will see the smoke and come to kill us.

"How did you learn to make fish this good," Naomi asks.

"My dad taught me." The sky was starting to darken which meant the careers would starting searching the woods for someone to kill. "I will take the first watch," I say.

"Why do you always take the first watch," Naomi asks.

"Does it matter?"

She looks over at Luke, "no I guess it doesn't."

That feeling of suspension came back. I sat down by the tree and watched the fallen tributes. Three had been killed today. District 8 girl, Sasha, and the boy from District 11.

There were twelve tributes dead and twelve still alive.

While I was on my watch I heard another beep. Another sponsor gift came from the sky. When it reached the ground I checked to see the number. It was 4. I opened it up and saw a box of fishing hooks. I put the box into my bag.

I kept thinking about Mags during my watch. I was expecting her to come out any second and tell me more tips for survival. But she didn't. I missed my cousin Sarah as well, I didn't leave on a good page with her and I couldn't make it up to her.

I thought about my father too. He couldn't come to the reaping or say goodbye to me. I knew he couldn't live with himself for that. I remember Sarah and Mags telling me believe in myself. If I ever wanted to go home I was going to half to start believing in myself.

"I am going to make it out of this arena alive," I say to myself.

I look down at Naomi and Luke and say, "I am sorry guys, I have to go."


	10. Chapter 10

I kept walking through the woods. I had to leave the group, I couldn't continue to be the one to keep them alive and I needed sleep. I found a spot over by the first lake. The careers weren't over there and it didn't look like they had been there.

I sat my stuff down and started to go to sleep. I had been asleep for about twenty seconds when I heard another beeping noise, another sponsor gift. I looked up and saw the parachute falling down towards me. This gift was much larger than all the others I had received.

When it landed on the ground I walked over to see what it was. It was a trident and I knew without a doubt that it was mine. In all the games I have ever seen, no one got large weapons like this. How did Mags manage to get this pulled off?

One thing I realized was that if people put in all the time and effort to make sure this trident got to me, it meant I had to give the audience what they wanted. There were some vines on the tree I was sleeping against. I took my knife and started to cut down the vines. Once I had all the vines cut down I started making a net.

Once I had my net made I started searching for people. The sun was just starting to rise before I finally found someone. The District 12 girl was sitting by a tree, eating bread. I attempted to hide behind a tree, but she saw me.

"Finnick," she said, "are you trying to form an alliance?"

"No, I'm done with alliances."

"This means I have to kill you," she said as she pulled a knife out of her belt.

"I am afraid you won't be able to." I take out my trident.

As I show her my trident, she throws a knife at me. I could feel the blood starting to run down my forehead.

The girl started running towards me. Before she could throw another knife I throw my net at her. "Finnick, you better let me out of here!"

Does she really think I am going to let her out of that net? I walk over to her and I think she starts excepting her fate. I shove the trident into her stomach and the cannon fires a minute later.

I grab my trident and try and think of the tributes that were left. All the careers, Link, District 7 male, Luke, Naomi, District 7 girl, and me.

I wonder if Naomi and Luke noticed I left. They probably thought I died when the District 12 girl's cannon went off. I remember that girl threw a knife at my head. The blood was still running down my face. I opened my bag to see if I had medicine. "And there is no medicine," I say to myself.

I gather my things and head to the Cornucopia, surely the careers are there and would be so willing to give me medicine. I kneel down by the bushes and can make out two people standing by the entrance to the Cornucopia.

Both of them are girls. This must be Jade and Cynthia. Jade has a spear and Cynthia has knives and a bow and arrow. I try and think of how I am going to get to the Cornucopia to get the medicine. I know for a fact they have medicine because Jade's leg is wrapped up.

I decide that I just going to casually walk out there, what can it harm? I get out from the bushes and start to walk across the field to the Cornucopia. "Hello, ladies," I say to them smiling. Jade looks over to Cynthia and they get their weapons ready to kill me.  
"Whoa, no need to kill me I just came to get medicine."

"Why would we give you medicine," Jade asks.

"Because if you don't," I say as I throw my trident into Cynthia's stomach, "you'll end up just like your friend."

Jade looks over at Cynthia just as the cannon fires. "Go ahead and try to kill me," she said, "I bet you can't."

I run over and grab my trident out of Cynthia's stomach. Jade tries throwing knives at me, but I am able to dodge them. I get up and start to run away from her, but she grabs me by the leg and tries to spear me in the stomach.

I roll away before she can stab me. She starts running towards me and I throw my trident right at her throat. "I will use the medicine wisely," I say pulling the trident out of her throat. She is going to die slowly from choking on her blood.

As I look through their bags the cannon fires. Both bags had two jars full of medicine, it looked like they had received both jars from sponsors. I grabbed the jars and put the medicine in my bag. Two out of the four careers were dead, three were alive if you counted Link as a career.

I knew Link would have a bow and arrow, that's what she would use during her training. I start heading back to forest when another cannon fires. I look up and see Link's picture in the sky. The last two careers must have wanted her out of the alliance or her arrogance got her killed.

I start walking back to the woods and I sit by the trees and apply the medicine on the spot the knife cut me. The medicine started to sting, but I knew that meant it was working. Hopefully by morning the cut would be healed.

Luke and Naomi must have realized I abandoned them, I could hear them arguing and their voices were getting closer and closer.

"Wasn't that the plan from the beginning," asks Luke.

"Yes, he has killed so many people now, shouldn't we be worried?"

I decide to seize the opportunity to kill them. "What was the plan," I ask.

"Nothing was," Naomi said.

I noticed Luke was walking into the tree line to sneak up on me. Before he could get any further I threw my trident at his head and he died instantly.

"You know I knew something was wrong when I first accepted your alliance," I say ripping the trident from Luke's head, "now I know I was right."

Naomi was starting to cry and beg for mercy, "I am sorry Finnick, I didn't want to kill you."

Does she think that this is going to work? It's the Hunger Games and she expects to live.

"Well, it's too late," I say shoving the trident into her stomach. With hesitation the cannon fires.


	11. Chapter 11

A few days went by without anyone dying. I received more and more sponsor gifts each day. Everyone in the arena is looking for me. I knew the only way to get people to come find me was to start a fire. I could set up some nets around the area and when they ran over to them I could catch them.

I went back to the tree I got the vines from and made more nets. It took about half the day to get them complete, but if I wanted to see my family again I would have to deal with it.

I take my nets and trident and head off to an area away from where I had been staying. I gather a few branches and light one of my matches. As the fire is starting, I begin to place the nets down. I sprinkle leaves over them so they blend in with the ground.

As I set the traps a cannon fires. When I look up I see it is the District 11 girl. Carter, Erik, and I were the only tributes left. Death counts were getting slower as the days went on and that means the gamemakers would be doing things to get us to kill each other.

The careers by now probably broke their alliance. I sit behind the tree near my fire and accidentally drift off into sleep. I hadn't slept for a week, which is about how long it took for everyone to realize they needed to kill me. As I am sleeping I hear someone get caught in my net. It's Carter.

"Odair I know you did this," he shouts as he tries to escape from the net. I crawl into the bushes in front of me, I don't want him to see me. I continue to crawl on my stomach when I hear the net snap loose. "Shit," I say quietly.

"Come on out Odair, I know you are over here." I continue to remain quiet and sneak up on him. Staying in the bushes I get up onto my knees and aim my trident at him. He notices me and runs at me. I am now pinned to the ground as he strangles me.

I eventually kick my way free. Before he is able to try and strangle the life out of me again, I stab him in the neck. Then the cannon goes off.

Erik and I are the only tributes left. I was ready for the games to be over and I was ready to go home and get my life back. I take my last few drops of water and extinguish the fire. Erik would be coming over here soon. I gather my net and make a run for it.

I head back to the main lake and clean off my trident and get more fresh water. As I clean my trident it starts to rain. I feel a small burn on the back of my neck and another burn on my wrist. As the rain pours harder and harder, the burns get more and more painful. The rain was acid.

I pick up my stuff and start heading towards the Cornucopia. It becomes painful to run, I wasn't going to let acid rain kill me.

I keep falling down from my legs giving out, I put the hood of my jacket over my head to try and keep the rain from burning my neck. That works for a while. I try to get up and run but I keep falling back down. I eventually just decide to lay on the ground with the rain pouring harder each second.

I must have passed out because when I look next to me there is a sponsor gift. I open it up and see that it is a cream for my burns. I apply it on my wrists and the back of neck. I knew Erik was still alive, otherwise I wouldn't be lying on the wet ground of the arena.

He must have went to the Cornucopia and took shelter, which was a pretty smart thing to do. Why didn't I think of that?

I try and stand up, I eventually do. I grab my belongings and start making my way to the Cornucopia. The games started there, why not end there?

I notice along the way to the Cornucopia, a long trail of blood and it was fresh. I decided to follow it since it was leading to the Cornucopia. Maybe it was from Erik? No cannons had been fired since the rain had started.

When I make it to the tree line before you head out to the Cornucopia, I see that the blood is heading straight for the mouth of the Cornucopia. I try and duck down between the bushes to see if I can see Erik anywhere.

"Where on Earth is he," I whisper to myself. That blood had to be his, it wasn't there the last time I was at the Cornucopia. If he was leaving a trail of blood he must have been injured pretty bad, maybe even on the verge of death.

I continue to wait behind the bushes, it didn't look like he would be showing up any time soon. I stand up and walk out to the Cornucopia. The blood trail is still leading out there. I have my net in one hand and my trident in the other.

As I am walking towards the Cornucopia I start to notice something. The trail of blood doesn't continue into the woods, instead it goes off into the Cornucopia. He was here.

Do I continue to make my way to the Cornucopia? Do I just stand here and wait for something to happen? Do I run back into the woods? There were many questions running through my head, I didn't know what to do.

If I continue to go on I may get killed, after all Erik had trained his whole life for this day. If I stand there and don't do anything he could still come out and kill me. If I ran away I would look cowardly.

"Mags I could really use your advice right now," I mumble. All of a sudden, I see a knife being thrown at me. It was Erik.


	12. Chapter 12

The knife hit me in the head. How many times am I going to keep getting cut in the head? I notice that Erik's leg is wrapped, the cloth has blood stains on the outside. Maybe he got into a fight with Carter. He's really desperate to win, he attempts to run after me.

I grab the knife he threw at me and throw it at him, it scrapes past his ear. "Damn it," I mumble to myself. I grab another knife off of my belt and throw it at him and it misses again. I get up and start to run towards him. He pushes me on the ground and tries to stab me in the face.

"Come on, don't you want your fans to see your new look," Erik says.

I was tired of everyone commenting on my looks, on me being weak, on my skills, on everything! The more he talked about it, the madder I was getting.

"You don't know anything about me," I say to him.

"Your're Finnick Odair, you're the pet of the Capitol and you almost won the Hunger Games."

I had had enough of this and the furry was raging through me. I kicked him off of me, grabbed my trident and put my foot on his stomach so he couldn't move.

"You're right," I say pointing my trident at his stomach, "but you were wrong about one thing," I say as I slowly put my trident through his stomach. "I won the Hunger Games."

The cannon went off a few seconds later.

I did it! I just won! I couldn't believe it.

I run back a few feet and watch as the hovercraft picks up his body. The same voice from the beginning of the games announces something again.

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you the victor of the 65th Hunger Games."

I look up and see another hovercraft coming down from the sky and it picks me up. Inside the hovercraft a lady tells me congratulations. I just nod, there is nothing to congratulate me on. I killed people to get out of the arena!

No one says anymore on the rest of the way to The Capitol, I just sit in silence thinking about my life the past few weeks. I just wanted to go home and forget what happened, but I knew I could never forget.

When we arrive at The Capitol one of the first people to greet me is Mags. I run up to her and give her one of the largest hugs ever. "I am so sorry you went through that," Mags said. "You helped keep me alive, thank you," I tell her.

A few seconds later people escort me to get ready for an interview with Caesar and it feels like the games are starting again. During my interview we talk about all the sponsor gifts and how I am now the youngest person to win the games.

After my interview I stand in front of the entire Capitol. President Snow takes the Victor's crown and places it on my head. "Congratulations," he says. "Thank you," I reply back even though deep down I am not happy about anything that has went on.

The crowd cheers after he places the crown on my head. How can they cheer? How can they celebrate? How can they remotely be happy about any of this? I continue to play the flirting act, it seems to help keep me alive.

After the ceremony Mags meets me and we are escorted down to the train to return home. "What happens next," I ask her. Mags closes her eyes and a single tear falls from her face, "enjoy your next year while you can."

"Why just next year?"

"You're fourteen now, so you are too young to mentor, same for age fifteen, too young," she says, "but once you turn sixteen, you'll be dragged out of your home and get to relive the horrors of the games every year for the rest of your life."

"What will happen now, surely they will want to interfer with my life somehow."

Mags shakes her head, "I don't know Finnick, I don't know."

I walk over to the window and look out and see The Capitol gets smaller and smaller as we get further away. "How did you handle this part," I ask Mags.

"I didn't, I still get the nightmares to this day."

That's what I was afraid to hear. The nightmares, reliving the games in my sleep every single night with no one to talk about it with because they wouldn't understand.

"You know Finnick, I never had a hard time getting sponsors for you," Mags said.

"I appreciate that you got sponsors for me," I tell her. She smiles back at me.

I go to my room on the train and look at myself in the mirror. I looked so thin, I barely recognized myself. I went back into the room Mags was in and asked her if I could have some food. She handed me and orange and told me to sit down and relax.

The rest of the trip didn't take long we arrive faster to District 4 than we had arrived at The Capitol. I got off the train and was escorted to the Justice Building. I stood in front of the entire district. I smiled and waved at the crowd.

I kept looking for my family and then I saw them. My mom, dad, and Sarah all cheering me on. I smiled back at them.

Seeing my family made me happy, I knew I was home safe and sound. I knew that I could live and enjoy my life for a little while. I knew that I could stop the act for a little while. Most of all, I knew I would never have to enter the area ever again.

Or so I thought.


End file.
